NEWS
Lexus won't plug-in
Hydrogen-fuelled electric vehicles are the future declares Toyota's luxury brandLexus has no intention of adopting plug-in battery recharging, declaring it is more about manufacturers showing off technology capabilities than meeting real consumer demand.
Instead the Toyota luxury division says it intends to stick with onboard power regeneration for its range of petrol-electric hybrids, give battery electric vehicles a miss and the take the leap straight to hydrogen fuelling for its EVs.
The strategy was confirmed to motoring.com.au by Lexus International executive vice president Mark Templin, one of the company’s most senior global executives, and comes despite plug-in technology being available from parent Toyota.
“The Toyota brand has plug-in hybrids and if we feel it’s something we have to have then we have the technology on the shelf and we could use it,” Templin said on the sidelines of last week’s Lexus ES sedan Australian launch. “Right now we don’t have plans for it.
“When we read the tea leaves we don’t see it making a difference in the globe. Everyone is trying to launch a plug-in now and its more of a tech play, it’s a play to get an innovation story more than it is to do with the real world.
“In the real world no-one is buying them, so there are a lot of them in the market place but they are not selling. Consumers aren’t willing to pay an additional price for it; you add more batteries, more cost, more complexity right now.”
Lexus’ strategy is completely different to that of rival BMW, whose i3 plug-in electric vehicle and i8 plug-in petrol-electric sports car are currently garnering global attention. Mercedes-Benz is also rolling out plug-in technology while it is part of Audi’s e-tron sub-brand.
“I am not saying it is never going to work,” cautioned Templin. “But right now we are not banking on that, we think the industry will go to fuel cell before it goes to plug-in hybrid. That’s what we are banking on.
“It depends on the government regulations. It is all going to depend on what governments do. If the governments say you are going to be taxed 100 per cent without these parameters then you are going to have to live up to those parameters. It’s just a matter of what they do.”
Templin said he was a fan of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but admitted the refuelling infrastructure represented a sizeable hurdle to its widespread introduction. A Toyota hydrogen fuel cell vehicle dubbed FCV will debut at the Tokyo motor show this month before a production version bows in 2015.
“I am very bullish on the technology. I have fallen in love with it. I won’t lay out a timeframe but I think in my career we will be driving a lot of them around.
“The current generation of fuel cell vehicles are pretty spectacular, they are fun to drive, they are fast, they are basically like high powered electric cars. Pop in your hydrogen and you go drive it like every other car and you get the same sort of range you get in a normal car and the exhaust is water. What could be better than that?
“I think that as time goes by, the development cost on the cars will come down, the price of the cars will come down and infrastructure will start to be created.’
Meanwhile, Templin also played down the need to convert from the nickel-metal hydride battery packs used by Lexus hybrids to the lithium-ion batteries that are now regarded as the industry standard and offered with some Toyota plug-in hybrids.
“You are going to see a mixture of some products with nickel and some products with lithium over a period of time as a transition, but as a company we really think it’s going to take the leap frog to the next generation of batteries because lithium doesn’t really get you to where you need to go.
“There are a couple of battery technologies that everyone is working on that we think will take us to a whole new generation of batteries and then you are going to see hybrid become an even bigger deal.”
Lithium-air is understood to be one of those technologies and solid state another.
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...
Don't forget to register to comment on this article.
Share this article
Written byBruce Newton
See all articlesOur team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Related articles
Disclaimer
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
Contact
Local marketplaces
International marketplaces
Download the carsales app
